It’s been a summer of birding surprises. Mostly, the birds have been surprising other people. I haven’t been so lucky.
A tufted puffin continues to amaze. Unlike Maine’s Atlantic puffins, tufted puffins are birds of the Pacific. They are never found here. Well, almost never. According to eBird records, this is the only historical sighting of a tufted puffin on the east coast. It’s been returning each summer since 2022.
This tufted puffin has mostly been spotted around Eastern Egg Rock in southern Maine. However, it has made short visits to other Maine puffin colonies, including Seal Island near Stonington and Matinicus Rock. It appeared briefly on Petit Manan near Milbridge on Independence Day and visited there multiple times over the last three years.
Ornithologists have determined that it’s the same bird every year. There must have been some freakish break in the Arctic ice cover to allow it to wander here from Alaska. Puffins are notoriously poor flyers, so you can bet it didn’t fly over land to get here. It’s an even surer bet it’ll never find its way back. Puffins typically live more than 20 years, and this one appears fated to hang out with its Atlantic cousins perpetually.
Nearly as strangely, an ancient murrelet wandered into the Gulf of Maine in June. It was first photographed at Matinicus Rock and later confirmed at Machias Seal Island.
Ancient murrelets are tiny members of the Alcid family. While their puffin cousins prefer to nest in crevices on treeless islands, ancient murrelets nest on forested islands in the Pacific northwest. They have occasionally been found wandering the midcontinent. Murrelets are also poor flyers, and sometimes get carried far inland by storms.
Imagine my surprise Downeast, when a roseate spoonbill turned up in Cutler last week. Spoonbills are tall, pink wading birds normally found in southern states, plus just about anywhere abutting the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.
Roseate spoonbills do wander quite a bit, though not normally this far north. Still, it happens. One turned up in Sebec seven years ago. Multiple birds have appeared in Québec over the years, including one that made it as far north as Rimouski on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
So far, I’ve chased none of these celebrity wanderers. However, I did pursue another recent vagrant. A fork-tailed flycatcher turned up in Kennebunk on July 14 and spent three days attracting a crowd of birders.
Fork-tailed flycatchers are native to Central and South America, and they are infamous nomads. Several have been spotted in Maine over the years. One set a northernmost record by turning up in Happy Valley – Goose Bay, Labrador, five years ago.
The fork-tailed flycatcher is the exception that proves the rule. I seldom chase birds. I’ve learned from experience that if I chase a bird, it will vanish minutes before I get there, and it will be my fault that nobody else gets to see it. Indeed, I was probably one of the last to see this rarity, as there were no further reports the next day.
As it happens, my flycatcher visit to Kennebunk Plains was fortuitous. It has been a few years since I last birded that spot, and I regret the lapse. A grassland plain of that type is unusual in Maine.
Kennebunk Plains resembles what a shortgrass prairie might look like in Minnesota, only with more trees. Some sparrows that are uncommon in Maine are common at Kennebunk Plains. I was reminded of that as I watched the flycatcher. Unusual sparrows were singing all around me, even in mid-July.
Vesper, field and grasshopper sparrows are especially attracted to grasslands.
Grasshopper sparrows are on Maine’s endangered species list, and none have been seen north of Lewiston this year. Field sparrows seldom range north of Bangor. Vesper sparrows nest in blueberry barrens, so they are a little more widespread Downeast.
Here they all were, right under my nose, posing for photos. They likely had offspring nearby, since one grasshopper sparrow took time out from his busy day to chirp annoyance at me. I’ve seen very few in my life, and this is the first one I’ve angered. I’ve resolved it won’t be the last. I’m definitely going to visit again next spring.
Portions of the Kennebunk Plains are conserved by both the State of Maine and the Kennebunk Land Trust. There are walking paths throughout that make for great birding.
Pro tip: have a great time going in. Check for ticks coming out.
